


Injured, But Not Broken

by MMH_Enthusiast



Category: Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons)
Genre: Comfort/Angst, Happy Ending, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-07 15:20:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11626326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MMH_Enthusiast/pseuds/MMH_Enthusiast
Summary: After the events of "For the Man Who Has Everything" in Justice League Unlimited, the Trinity comforts each other. Can be read without seeing the episode but I suggest reading my notes if you have not seen the episode.So, Obviously, Warning: Spoilers for this episode





	Injured, But Not Broken

**Author's Note:**

> Recommended to read only after you've seen the episode on Justice League Unlimited. It is Season 1, Episode 2 of JLU. Can read without but there will be certain details you may not understand (explained at the end).  
> As for those who have seen the episode, I did slip in my own explanation as to how Diana didn't get caught by the Black Mercy and changed one detail from the episode: Clark's desire is with Diana and Bruce rather than with Lois to fit the pairing. Van is still apart of it but don't ask me to explain how that works with polyamory parents. I didn't have the heart to remove Clark's adorable little boy.

Without saying much, Bruce, Diana, and Clark all dragged Mongol to a prison room in the fortress and then headed to the med bay in the fortress. As they sat in the med bay, tending to each other, they were all left with their own thoughts. Bruce had to put his arm in a sling due to a dislocated (and relocated) shoulder and had some heavy bruising all along his torso, along with some broken ribs that had to be wrapped. Diana’s fast healing was already in work, so they just set her ribs, to make sure they healed properly, and wrap her head from her concussion as her bruises already had begun to heal. Clark had sat under a UV lamp temporarily to heal all his wounds in a matter of minutes.

“Diana, why couldn’t the Black Mercy attach itself to you?” Bruce asked her quietly.

Diana looked at him a moment before saying, “I already have everything I desire. No regrets, and there is nothing in the world I want that I don’t already have. Had this occurred before we came together, it might have been different.”

Clark was looking at the floor as she said this, feeling slight shame. _Diana has everything she wants. A family in the Justice League. Bruce and I to herself. And here I am wishing for more. Wishing for things I don’t have, never will have, and am not very grateful for what I do have._

“Stop it, Clark.” Clark looked up to see Bruce leaning back on the propped-up bed he was on, eyes closed. Clark could hear the pain in his breathing, despite the man’s attempts to hide it. “Stop beating yourself up over not being able to say the same.”

“How can you say that when you don’t know what I saw?”

“I know what you saw, Clark.”

“How could you possibly know that, Bruce?” Diana asked him.

Bruce opened his eyes to look at Clark before he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed so he could face them. He hissed in pain as it jostled his ribs and shoulder.

“Because he saw the same thing I did. We both had our worlds taken away from us, making us orphans.  How could it not be our heart’s desire to want that world back?” Bruce closed his eyes, feeling tears beginning to well up. He hadn’t cried since his parents’ death. Seeing their murder all over again, he knew there was no stopping it. Red and pearls. That’s what he saw when he closed his eyes. A tear escaped his eye, rolling down his cheek.

Seeing his lover in pain, tears falling where she never thought tears would fall, Diana approached Bruce, bringing his head to her chest, running her fingers through his hair soothingly. Tears freely streamed down Bruce’s cheeks as Clark got up and sat next to him, taking the hand of his good arm, stroking it with his thumb.

Giving Bruce a moment to let out his pain before he said anything, Clark couldn’t help but think on the truth of the man’s words. Just as Bruce had for almost his entire life, Clark would have to live with the new memories of people he’d never actually meet. Of the planet, he’d never actually see.

Bruce sucked in a painful breath as the tears finally slowed. He knew the only reason he was able to pull himself together at all was because of the two people with him. Diana was right when she said things would have different before they got together. Without them, Bruce knew not only would he not have been able to get away from the Black Mercy, but he would have seen some depiction of his partners as well. The biggest reason it was easier for him to get rid of the Black Mercy’s hold was because he knew he had two people counting on him who had slowly patched the whole in his heart his parents had left. He had the two people he loved most already in his grasp.

“You’re right.” Clark told Bruce quietly. “As you saw your parents, I saw the planet and family that had been taken away from me. I had been on Krypton, my parents alive and healthy, and I lived on a farm much like the one that has a place in my heart here, and the three of us with a son. We were a family there.” Diana reached over toward Clark to take his empty hand while she still carded the fingers of her hand through Bruce’s hair. Clark felt Bruce squeeze his hand to let him know that he was here for Clark as much as Clark had been there for him. Clark took a shaky breath, not allowing himself to cry. He may have had to give up his heart’s desire, but he did not lose anything he ever really had. He had never known Krypton so it never really was his home; Earth is and always has been his home. His parents he will never really know had loved him and that’s enough; He was raised by another mother and father who loved him just as much as they ever could. They may not have a son, but the three of the are a family here rather than there. Clark would not cry. He had not lost anything he does not have here.

As Diana comforted her boys, she wished she could take their pain away. It hurt her more than anything to see them broken. _No. Not broken_ , she thought to herself, _Maybe injured, but not broken_. She felt both Clark and Bruce relax as they sat there together, comforted by the love they all felt one another, and knew they would heal. It may take time, but as long as they all loved each other, they would be fine. She saw Clark then lean his head against Bruce’s good shoulder, and Bruce squeeze the man’s hand. _Definitely not broken_ , she thought with a small smile on her face.

**Author's Note:**

> Mongol is the villain that Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman face. He trapped Superman with 'The Black Mercy' or a plant that traps someone in a comatose state and shows them their heart's desire. In order to escape, the victim has to give up their heart's desire as someone pulls it off. With Batman's help pulling the plant off, Superman escapes his vision, but gets trapped by it. Wonder Woman then helps Batman and pulls it off of him while avoiding getting caught herself. They then trap Mongol by it. You can imagine the fight that happens throughout the episode, leaving the heroes with the injuries I explained (I did do a little guess work with that). The visions the heroes saw should be obvious to those who know the characters but if not, Bruce saw his father save them the night his parents get killed but when he left the Black Mercy, he re-witnessed their murder. I outlined Clark's vision in my story with a slight change to fit the pairing.


End file.
